


The Thorn

by brevitas



Series: Learn to Howl [2]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Vampire AU, Werewolf AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-09
Updated: 2013-03-09
Packaged: 2017-12-04 19:44:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/714377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brevitas/pseuds/brevitas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enjolras tells the story of his and Grantaire's first meeting and leaves out an important part that Courfeyrac later overhears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Thorn

Grantaire goes to call the pack in as Enjolras, Courfeyrac and Marius settle down in the living room. The space is huge and populated with four different couches and a plethora of end tables and it's obvious they spend a lot of time in here; there are forgotten magazines tossed haphazardly on tables, toys crammed between cushions, pillows stacked in one corner just so.

Enjolras sits on the newest couch and Courfeyrac joins him, stretches his long legs out over his lap. "This is ours," he says peacefully, which Enjolras takes to mean him and Grantaire usually sit here. Pack heirarchy is completely alien to Enjolras and it has taken him a long time to figure out that Grantaire is the true alpha but Courfeyrac does most of the leading, thus marking him as the beta.

He nods and clasps his hands together on Courfeyrac's shins, not compaining about the contact. The wolves are remarkably friendly with one another and even when there is plenty of room will clamber onto a friend's lap or doze against someone's shoulder. Vampires are notoriously unwelcome to touching but Enjolras is an exception, and is almost as tactile as the pack.

A chilling howl wafts in through one of the open windows, Grantaire silouetted against the sky with his hands cupped to his mouth. He waits patiently as one by one his packmates respond, able to recognize each by the unique tone of their call.

When he comes back in he's smiling and toes his boots off, sits down at Enjolras' vacant side without hesitation. "They're on their way."

Sure enough the rest of the pack tromp through the back door and take their seats. Most of them are muddy and, seeing as how they lose their clothes when they shift, have just pulled on whatever shirts and pants were piled up by the door. Many of their outfits are understandably terrible, and Feuilly picks at the tight shirt he's wearing with disdain, nearly one hundred percent sure is Eponine's.

They all chorus greetings to Enjolras and a few ruffle his hair as they pass by (which he strokes back down with unamused "Haha"s) and then settle down. They're prepared for Enjolras to give a speech and he does not disappoint.

He talks to them about a moral revolution, how they could metaphorically 'come out of the closet' to the humans and it's as intoxicating as they remember it. Enjolras believes wholeheartedly that if given the chance, humans would respond to their existence without violence, and if this is done right, they could graduate to not having to hide their true natures all the time. Grantaire, who drinks with the reckless abandonment that betrays decades of alcoholism, momentarily puts down his bottle in favor of arguing.

Him and Enjolras clash unlike anything the pack has seen; they're able to refute arguments their opponent hasn't even brought up yet, knowing it'll be referenced eventually, and oftentimes jointly come up with some excellent ideas after their skirmishes. Enjolras, who is not a cynic and never will be, believes that the best approach to enlightening the humans will be through televised news--Grantaire, who has been a cynic since childhood, frankly tells him that if shit goes wrong they don't want to be stuck inside interview rooms.

They both give each other things to think about and when the anger bleeds out of the room and Grantaire returns moodily to his beer, Enjolras takes his seat. The rest of the pack have been quiet but attentive, and when silence settles it is Courfeyrac who breaks it. "So Enjolras," he begins cheekily, sitting up a bit to look at the vampire. "We usually tell stories every night before bed and since you've riled everybody up, I say you should do it tonight."

The pack chimes in with support of this idea, and Enjolras looks quizically at Grantaire. "Go ahead," he says with a dry laugh. "They won't leave you alone 'til you do anyway."

Enjolras nods and Courfeyrac claps his hands together. "Excellent. I suggest the story of how you and Grantaire met."

Grantaire coughs on his beer and Enjolras grins. Any other time and he would have tried to convince them to hear a different story--but Grantaire looks decidedly agitated, and Enjolras likes that story anyway.

"Certainly," he says and a few of them crawl off the couches and settle on the floor near his feet, making pillows out of each other and dragging blankets behind them. Grantaire stays where he is as does Courfeyrac, leaving the pair the last two to dawdle on the sofas.

"It all began ten years ago," he begins.

"I never meant to come here at all, to be honest. My destination was a far larger city a state over but I'd miscalculated the time it would take me to arrive and I found myself starving when I saw this exit on the highway. I decided a short stop was in order, and I parked my car on the outskirts of town and headed downtown.

"It was nine which meant the nightlife had yet to get entirely underway and most of the people I saw were in groups, which as you know makes hunting much harder. I was debating on whether I should try a few bars to see if my luck got any better when I smelled blood.

"I saw Grantaire and confirmed that it was him bleeding, from a wound on his hand. I looked him over and decided that, judging from his stature, he would be easy enough to overpower."

Grantaire interjects with a heartfelt, "Fucking vampires."

Courfeyrac pats Grantaire's knee and gestures for Enjolras to go on.

"I followed him and thought it would be a while until we were far enough away from the others but suddenly he turned down an alleyway. Honestly I should have questioned it but I was hungry and the blood smelled incredible, so I went down there too.

"When my eyes adjusted I discovered that there wasn't a man down there at all, but a wolf. If you can believe it that was actually my first encounter with one of your kind, and the only stories I'd ever heard were violent. My coven had told me that they were enemy; despite the fact that you guys look like overgrown wolves, you're apparently quite dangerous."

"Our bites are pretty nasty," Gavroche says, sprawled out against Bossuet. "Somethin' 'bout jaw power."

Enjolras nods. "That's exactly it. Both of our species are built stronger than the humans but yours have immensely powerful bites; unlike when a human attacks a vampire, it's very gory when we fight.

"So anyway I instinctively think that this giant black wolf is going to attack me and shout that if he wants to he better just get it over with. What I didn't know was that Grantaire had no clue that I was following him, and the only reason he'd changed was because he was about to go hunting himself."

Grantaire snorts. "It was ridiculous and dramatic," he adds, and Courfeyrac shushes him.

"He tells me, 'I don't want to fight you--I don't even know who you are,' and truthfully, I had no idea you could even speak when in your true forms. The vampires do not have a high opinion of you, I'm ashamed to say.

"I was startled by this unexpected ability to talk and didn't answer right away and thus Grantaire growled at me and raised his hackles, expecting a fight. I quickly held my hands out and told him that I didn't want to fight either, that I was new in town and hadn't known this city belonged to werewolves."

He looks sidelong at Grantaire and grins. "And what did you say?"

"I said you were a dumbass for coming here without sniffing around first and that I'd tear your throat out if you stayed." He shakes his head, ruefully grinning. "Really, I had no idea what to do about you. I was hoping I could scare you away."

"What happened after that?" Bossuet asks curiously.

Enjolras and Grantaire exchange a look, and then Enjolras says, "Nothing really. We talked some and I found out that he was a part of the pack in these parts, and he decided that I wasn't as threatening as I looked. He told me he couldn't introduce me to his pack without causing issues but he was happy to show me around town; I found a meal that night and left.

"I didn't ever think I'd be back here, but I came back... what, a year later?" Grantaire nods.

"And by that time Grantaire had told anybody who would listen about the vampire he'd met," Feuilly remarks, grinning. "We'd all heard a thousand things about you long before we got to meet you ourselves."

"We all knew what you looked like, smelled like, dressed like--frankly it was a little ridiculous." But Bossuet is grinning while he says this, and Grantaire's only retaliation is a middle finger.

"What can he say," Courfeyrac teases. "It was one hell of a 'puppy' crush."

Everyone laughs and even Grantaire can admit it was a pretty clever pun, but nobody notices how Enjolras fidgets in his seat and doesn't join in.

Gavroche yawns when the giggles subside and Eponine leans over and smooths down his hair, says, "I think we should head to bed." It's late enough to justify it and the pack starts clambering to their feet and stretching, thanking Enjolras for the story before heading to their respective bedrooms. Eponine picks up Gavroche and kisses Grantaire on the cheek as she passes, glancing over his shoulder thoughtfully at Enjolras; but she only readjusts her grip on her brother and disappears.

The last to leave is Marius who, being the omega of the pack, is responsible for picking up the room. He quickly but neatly folds the blankets and nods at the two of them as he leaves, his bedroom door closing not a minute after his departure.

Grantaire sets the empty beer bottle on the table and says, "Thanks for not mentioning that other thing I said to you."

Enjolras laughs and stands, straightening his shirt. "I couldn't see the point of bringing it up to your pack."

"Still." Grantaire grins at him when he folds his arms across his chest. "You have no idea what Courfeyrac would do if he knew I told you I loved you the first time I saw you."

Grinning, Enjolras says, "Well, consider yourself one favor in debt," and they laugh as Grantaire escorts him to the guest bedroom.

Courfeyrac had doubled around the house and crept silently in the back door and is now crouching in the kitchen, his finely tuned ears honed in on the living room. He congratulates himself on a successful eavesdropping by performing his trademarked victory dance, completely with flailing arms and legs and a few fist pumps.

When he's finished and his hair is all askew he pulls out his phone and sends a mass text to the pack, being careful not to include Grantaire on the receipient list. 'ALERT' he keys. 'R IS TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH E STILL. OVERHEARD THAT HE SAID THE L WORD UPON FIRST CONTACT. CALLED IT' and hits send.

+++++

Grantaire wakes up late the next morning and shuffles out to the kitchen yawning, garbed only in pajama pants. He nods at his pack and sidles past them to the fridge, pulling out a gallon of milk and taking a drink straight from the jug.

Innocently Courfeyrac flips bacon at the stove and says, "So you told Enjolras that you loved him the first time you guys met?" and Grantaire spits milk when he chokes.

The pack laughs at his expression and he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, turning on Courfeyrac with a glare. "Where the hell did you hear that?"

"Straight from the horse's mouth," Feuilly remarks at the table, slathering butter on toast. When Grantaire just stares at him he says, "He was eavesdropping."

"You little--" Before Grantaire can put into words how much he wants to throttle Courfeyrac right now Enjolras shows up, looking insanely attractive for being straight out of bed. He looks curiously between them and quirks an eyebrow, walks past Grantaire to get a pomegranite out of the fridge.

"You mind?" He asks and Grantaire shakes his head, sneaking a glance at Courfeyrac (who mimes zipping his mouth shut and throws the key wildly over his shoulder). Grantaire assumes Enjolras thinks that first 'I love you' was comical and forgettable, and he doesn't really want to remind the vampire that it's been ten years and Grantaire's feelings have only strengthened. No doubt he'll get uncomfortable and vanish, and since he doesn't think vampires have an actual lifespan, theoretically Enjolras could just stay away until Grantaire died of old age.

He harurmphs as he takes another drink of milk and Enjolras sits at the table, licking his fangs and then plunging them into the fruit. He drinks the juices and watches the pack and, knowing that the tension is obvious, Courfeyrac asks loudly, "Do you want some bacon, Enjolras?"

He shakes his head. "No thanks, I don't eat meat," and just like that the awkward feeling of the room is transformed into vegan jokes and thoughtful questions on how a vampire can choose not to eat meat but still drink blood.

Grantaire watches his pack quiz Enjolras and sets the milk down, folding his arms across his chest and trying not to think about how horrible having the vampire around for a few weeks is going to be with all his packmates knowing what they know.

**Author's Note:**

> I have finally delivered part two of this little gem and it didn't turn out exactly how I wanted but I still like it and I hope you guys do too <3
> 
> title comes from a quote by Maya Angelou: “The thorn from the bush one has planted, nourished and pruned pricks more deeply and draws more blood.” replace the word bush with love and it makes more sense I think (ugh finding titles for this series sucks, if anybody has any recommendations leave it for me in comments or asks on tumblr and I will love you)
> 
> as always kisses to all of you, you're lovely folks
> 
> tumblr is idfaciendumest if you want to follow or chat me up or whatever


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